The Thane Crime Branch, investigating a racket in which counterfeit currency was being printed in Shahpur district, suspect that it has its genesis in Nashik, from where the alleged mastermind was arrested the first time, two years back.
On Thursday, Unit V of the Thane Crime Branch arrested Kaluram Indavale, after he was found to be in possession of counterfeit notes of ₹500 with a face value of ₹2.83 lakh. They went on to raid a workshop in Igatpuri which had all the equipment required to print the counterfeit currency.
“Information obtained so far indicates that the mastermind, who is still on the run, was arrested around two years ago in Nashik for possession of fake currency. Whether he was the main accused in that case, too, is still unclear but after securing bail, he moved to Shahpur and set up the workshop there. The technical know-how has to have come from somewhere and we are now working on this angle,” an officer from Unit V said.
‘Familiar territory’
The officer said a team will soon leave for Nashik, on the trail of the wanted accused, and make inquiries with his associates. “We will seek help from the local police and pick up any and all persons connected to him for questioning. We suspect that since Nashik is familiar territory for him, and only 51 km from Shahpur, he might be hiding there,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Indavale, who is in the Crime Branch’s custody, is being quizzed on the scope of the racket. “We need to find out the areas where they circulated the fake currency, so that we can check with the concerned police stations about any cases registered in this connection. Details on the cases will give us a better idea of the extent of the racket, and for how long it has been active,” the officer said.
